“Howdy, partner!”
Four-year-old Max
doffs his new black
cowboy hat as his mom, Wendy,
tightens the buckle on his chaps.
At first, Max’s birthday party
seems like any other you might
encounter on a quiet street in East
Sacramento, until you hear the
clip-clop of hooves and see the pony
coming down the sidewalk. Could
the strange-looking equestrian
riding not so tall in the saddle be a
barnyard fowl? Is that curly-coated
creature over there a large woolly
dog or a sheep? It’s all part of the
petting zoo on my neighbor’s front
lawn.

“I’ve lived here for 30 years,
and I’ve never seen anything like
this before,” I comment to another
stunned resident as I walk past with
my basset hound, who clearly wants
to join the fray in the hay. Bubba
sniffs curiously at Bucky, the pygmy
goat munching feed from a bucket. If
there were a cartoon thought bubble
above the hound’s head, it would say,
“What kind of a dog has horns?”

Several children are gathered
inside the fence where some fuzzy
bunnies are corralled. A mallard
drake suddenly swoops in for a
landing. At first, the bird is mistaken
for avian wildlife from the nearby
American River Parkway until it
becomes apparent that he, too, is one
of the party animals.

“Last week at a school, he flew
over the fence and hopped right back
inside,” says Nancy Cuevas, owner
of Pony Rides by Nancy Petting Zoo.

Cuevas has loved animals all her
life. She has been around horses for
more than 40 years but developed
severe osteoarthritis in her hips and
can no longer ride them herself. “I’d
feel it for days afterwards,” she says,
bending over to pantomime the pain.
“I realized I couldn’t keep riding
horses. I love kids and I love animals,
so I started the petting zoo.” Her
dream is to make as many children
smile as possible. Judging from the
looks on the children’s faces at Max’s
birthday celebration, her dream
appears to be coming true.

“Yee-haw!” Max hollers like a real
Texas cowpoke. “Giddy-up, horsy!”

Pony Rides by Nancy, which serves
the greater Sacramento area, began
in 1986. Cuevas’ petting zoo is fully
insured and USDA licensed under
the Animal Welfare Act. She pauses
during our conversation to caution
the children not to handle the young
bunnies but to gently pet them.
Unlike the animals in some petting
zoos, which have sometimes earned
a bad reputation with animal rights
groups, Cuevas’ menagerie appears
to be not only well-fed and healthy
but also well-treated. She shows as
much concern for the well-being of her
animals as she does for the children
who are enjoying them.

Cuevas will bring her ponies or
the whole petting zoo to birthdays,
promotional events, family
gatherings, or company parties any
time, any place, rain or shine. She
also provides pony rides on her ranch.
“Be sure to bring your camera,” she
says.

Cuevas boosts the birthday boy
onto a Shetland pony that is the color
of the oats it munches from another
child’s chubby hand. The little girl
giggles as the pony’s whiskers tickle
her palm.

His legs too short to reach the
stirrups, he kicks at the air with his
cowboy boots as a zoo helper guides
the pony slowly down the street.
Riding along the Old Asphalt Trail,
Max is followed by another child atop
a miniature mule, plus three pygmy
goats and a nosy basset hound.

“This is going to be a tough act
to follow,” a neighbor says to Max’s
mom. What will you do for his next
birthday?”

Wendy laughs. “Next year we’re
going to Chuck E Cheese’s.”

For more information, call Pony
Rides by Nancy at (530) 633-9400 or
visit geocities.com/ponyrides_nancy/.

Sue Owens Wright is a five-time
nominee of the Maxwell Award
from the Dog Writers’ Association of
America and won a Maxwell in 2003.
She is a fancier and rescuer of basset
hounds, which are often featured
in her books and essays. For more
information about the author, visit
beanieandcruiser.com.